ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES v CANADA Canada were without two of their best players. John Davison was required by South Australia for a one-day match against Tasmania on 21st November and there were doubts whether, if he played this match for Canada, he would get back to Australia in time; also he would be unavailable for the final should Canada qualify. Ashish Bagai was unable to get leave from his academic studies at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. Ian Billcliff took over the captaincy from Davison, won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch with a surprisingly large amount of grass. Zubin Surkari and Asif Mulla opened with a partnership of 45 in 55 minutes before Mulla was bowled by Ali Asad. Surkari and Don Maxwell then found both the pitch and the bowling to their liking, going into lunch undefeated with the score at 157 for 1. Maxwell enjoyed some ill-disciplined short-pitched bowling after lunch before falling leg-before to Ali Asad, who was easily the pick of the Emirates’ bowlers. Surkari maintained the momentum in partnerships of 94 and 54 with Billcliff and Harvinder Dhillon respectively before becoming the sixth wicket to fall, having made an excellent 139 runs at a strike rate of 63.7. Billcliff declared at this point with nine overs of the first innings still remaining. Naeemuddin Aslam and Arshad Ali opened with a 48-run stand and Kashif Khan helped Naeemuddin to take this to 70 when, just before the close, he became the second wicket to fall to the left-arm spin of Sunil Dhaniram. Sameer Zia survived the last over as nightwatchman. The Emirates took the score to 113 before Arshad Ali became Dhaniram’s third victim, stumped by Mulla. The nightwatchman fell to Umar Bhatti at the same score, putting Canada in a strong position which was then quickly wrecked by an aggressive display by Syed Maqsood. He dominated all the subsequent wicket partnerships, scoring 100 as opposed to the 41 runs contributed by the five other batsmen and extras. His century came off 154 balls (strike rate of 64.9) with 66% of the runs in boundaries (15 fours and 1 six). As soon as he reached three figures, Mohammad Tauqir declared. Despite being 83 runs in arrears, he was anxious not to concede too many bonus points. It was also a tactic which seemed to work as Zahid Shah produced a spell of controlled pace bowling to take four wickets. With Ali Asad also claiming a wicket, the Emirates reduced Canada to 95 for five. By the close, however, Billcliff and Dhaniram had taken the score to 132 and were looking confident. On the third morning, Billcliff chose to adopt a steadying role whilst first Dhaniram and then Austin Codrington took advantage of some poor bowling. The declaration was made at the fall of the eighth wicket, depriving the Emirates of a further bowling bonus point and setting a target of 337 runs in five hours. The inexperience of the Emirates in two-innings cricket showed in that they did not know how best to respond, whether to go for a possible victory or play for a draw. They kept up a strike rate of 58.7 but lost wickets regularly as Umar Bhatti destroyed the middle order with his left-arm pace. However, they survived, finishing with the last pair together but 143 runs short. Canada went through to the final by obtaining more bonus points. Zubin Surkari was the Man of the Match for his century on the opening day. 42 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2004